Writing is fun but finding magazines and journals that will publish your work can be a real challenge. To help make the process a little easier, I have compiled a list of publications (Australian) that welcome submissions from established and emerging poets. Please let me know if you’ve heard of any others and I’ll add them to the list. To see current submission deadlines and payment details (some don’t pay anything) go directly to the publication’s website.

Magazines and Journals that Accept Poetry

Alien She Zine: This appears to have stopped publishing.

Antic Magazine. An online magazine that publishes edgy, diverse writing by new and established writers from Australia and worldwide.

• Submissions: Antic publishes monthly and accepts poetry submissions all year round. Poetry is accepted on a commission-only basis. Submissions are uploaded via their website. Include a cover letter, contact details and a short (100 word) bio.

The Australian Book Review (ABR) is Australia’s oldest and premier literary review and is available both in print and online. Created in 1961, it is a national magazine that accepts poetry submissions, articles, reviews, essays, commentaries and new creative writing. ABR is an independent non-profit organisation that publishes poetry throughout the year – in addition to poetry reviews, States of Poetry, Poet of the Month, and the Peter Porter Poetry Prize.

• Submissions: ABR accepts four poems in a single Word file or individual Word files. Also include a brief biography. Submit work to ABR via email: abrpoetrysubmissions@gmail.com

Australian Poetry produces the Australian Poetry Journal and the annual Australian Poets Anthology. They also publish a regular e-news with the latest in Australian poetry culture, important events and opportunities. Their website lists lots of competition opportunities.

     Australian Poetry Journal is a biannual publication of work by established, emerging and new poets. The print edition is also available digitally to subscribers. Check their website for current submission deadlines.

     Australian Poets Anthology is published annually and only accepts poetry submissions from AP subscribers. Check their website for current submission deadlines.

Axon. An online journal supported by the Faculty of Arts at the University of Canberra. It aims to ‘provide points of connection and transmission across the creative community, providing the sparks of energy we need to keep making our work, and providing a space in which creative thought can be disseminated.’

• Submissions: all poetry is now solicited by editors (2019). Axon publishes twice yearly. Submissions are uploaded via their website – online submission manager.

Brain drip. Unfortunately this online literary journal closed at the end of 2019. Their site remains up.

Cordite Poetry Review is an online journal (often themed) published 4 – 6 times each year. Cordite Scholarly publishes poetry reviews, essays and criticism and ‘always accepts submissions’.

• Submissions: Up to three poems in a single Word or RTF document, with no identifying details in the document. Submissions are accepted via Submittable only. See their website for current details.

Femagogyzine is a quarterly e-zine written ‘for the most part, by teachers and for teachers, who believe in equality and progressive politics.’

• Submissions: Please email poetry (no guidelines) to femagogyzine@gmail.com and include the subject name ‘submission’. They particularly welcome work from ‘women and female-identifying writers and artists‘.

Going Down Swinging is one of Australia’s longest-running literary journals with digital and print editions. They are looking for ‘work that dances on the boundaries and punches you in the gut.‘ 

• Submissions: They have two separate submission windows for online and print – check their website for details. There are no guidelines for poetry – they suggest taking a look at previous editions. Online submissions should be emailed to online@goingdownswinging.org.au. They prefer unpublished work and pay authors (unspecified). 

Griffith Review is a quarterly review aiming to foster and inform public debate. Each themed edition contains a mix of essays, memoir, short fiction, poetry and essays by new and experienced authors.

• Submissions: All work must fit (loosely) with the upcoming theme. They will accept up to five individual poems per submission, each no more than two pages long.

Island is a quarterly, literary magazine of ideas, culture and writing. Based in Tasmania, it was established in 1979.

• Submissions: Check their website for details – at the time I was writing this blog, they were closed. If you sign up to their newsletter they email when they are open. Submission windows appear to be very brief.

LiteLitOne is a bi-annual online journal of established and emerging writers, published from Western Sydney. They accept contemporary poetry and fiction from all over the world and offer $10 payment for Australian contributions. Check their website for more details and to read the journals.

• Submissions: emailed via a word.doc. They accept prose up to 1,000 words or 1-4 poems. 

Malevolent Soap – Their website says that they ‘are in the process of closing.’

Mascara. A bi-annual literary journal founded in 2007, Mascara is particularly interested in the work of contemporary Asian, Australian and Indigenous writers. Check their website. At the time of writing they were closed for ‘creative submissions.’

• Submissions: Poetry submissions are by e-mail and they only consider previously unpublished work. Simultaneous submissions are acceptable. Submit 3-5 poems and a short bio in a single Microsoft Word doc as an attachment, labelled with your name to submissions@mascarareview.com

Meanjin. One of Australia’s oldest literary magazines. Meanjin is published 4 times a year in print form and online.

• Submissions: Closed at the time of writing this blog so no details were available. They advise signing up to their newsletter to hear of submission openings.

Meniscus. This is an online ‘free access‘ literary journal that publishes twice yearly, April and October. The editors of Meniscus are based in Australia, New Zealand and the UK and they accept poetry submissions from anywhere in the world.

• Submissions: Writers can submit up to 5 poems via submittable. They also require a brief bio of 50-75 words.

Not Very Quiet. is an online journal for women’s poetry that publishes twice yearly. They ‘aim[s] to offer an opportunity for more women poets of all ages, ethnicities and backgrounds to publish their work.’  Issue 1 was launched in September 2017.

• Submissions: Writers can submit up to 3 poems via submittable. They also require a brief bio of 50 words. They accept poetry from Haiku to prose. See their website for formatting.

Overland. One of Australia’s most radical and long-standing literary magazines. Published quarterly as a print journal and online magazine, it aims to provide a voice to those whose stories are otherwise marginalised or ignored.

• Submissions: They ask that writers send no more than 3 poems per quarter in a single Word.doc or PDF. Work submitted via submittable. The current Poetry Editor is Toby Fitch.
• Fair Australia Prize: The Fair Australia Prize is a $4000 prize for poetry up to 88 lines. Check their website for submission deadlines and details.

The prize encourages artists and writers of fiction, poetry and essays to be part of setting a new agenda for our future, questioning our collective common future and how we might get there, together. Winning entries will be published in a special Fair Australia supplement in Overland.

Pencilledin is a relatively new publication aiming to showcase work by Asian Australians. They are hoping to produce both digital and print versions of their publication. They are looking for fiction, non-fiction, poetry, art and illustration and are supported by the Queensland Writers Centre.

• Submissions: Submissions are accepted via email only. See their website for current details. They are open to pitches but do not accept simultaneous submissions. They also accept submissions for their online blog in the form of reviews and interviews. They currently pay $50 for publications, $25 for blog posts.

Peril  is an Asian Australian online (themed) magazine of arts and culture, published twice per year.

• Submissions: It accepts poetry submissions connected to issues of Asian Australian (themed) interest. They accept simultaneous submissions. They also welcome submissions in creative and new media, including video, audio and sound.

Plumwood Mountain  is an Australian journal of ecopoetry and ecopoetics.

• Submissions: Check their website for their current deadlines, themes and formatting guidelines. They request that writers submit poems (no more than 3 at a time) as separate .docx, .doc or .rtf files attached to an email – submissions.plumwoodmountain@gmail.com. They accept simultaneous submissions. They also welcome visual poems as .pdf or .jpeg. They also ask for contact details and a 50-word bio in the body of the email.

Poets Corner – InDaily. An independent online newspaper in Adelaide that publishes poetry weekly as well as news, sports, opinions, art and culture. Poets Corner is compiled by John Miles.

• Submissions: Email poems of up to 40 lines to poetscorner@solsticemedia.com.au. Submissions must be in the body of the email, and include an address. Contributors will receive a poetry book.

Quadrant is an online and printed journal of ideas, literature, poetry and debate published 10 times a year.

• Submissions: They only accept mailed poetry submissions – with a stamped, self-addressed envelope and a daytime telephone number. All contributions must also be accompanied by either an ABN number (and GST Status) or a Statement by a Supplier. The current mailing address is:

Quadrant Magazine
2/5 Rosebery Place
Balmain NSW 2041
Australia

Rabbit – ‘A pioneer in the field, RABBIT intends to celebrate the potential for poetry to explore and interrogate the boundaries of nonfiction writing. RABBIT encourages poets to openly engage with auto/biography, history, politics, economics, mathematics, cultural analysis, science, the environment, and all other aspects of real world experience, recollection and interpretation.’

• Please send up to 3 poems or poem suites in one document through Rabbit‘s Submittable site. Check their website for themes.

Right Now. An organisation for human rights issues and justice in Australia. They publish poetry online.

• Submissions: Email to submissions@rightnow.org.au with name, contact details, a short bio, and your Twitter account, if you have one. You must warrant that your work is original and does not breach copyright nor defame any person. Right Now will not publish material that is untrue, seeks to defame or is discriminatory in any way.

Southerly Launched in 1939, Southerly is a journal of literary criticism, cultural debate and reviews. There are three issues of Southerly published each year, digitally and in print. Kate Lilley is the current poetry editor (July, 2017). They produce both themed and un-themed editions.

• Submissions: Writers can submit up to 5 poems via submittable. Include a 50-word bio with your submission.

Stilts ‘is a triannual journal of established and emerging poets published from Brisbane, Australia.’

• Submissions: Submit up to 3 poems in a single word document. They are self-funded and pay contributors (it doesn’t say how much).

StylusLit is an Australian, bi-annual online literary journal, publishing poetry, short stories, novel excerpts, creative non-fiction, interviews and reviews.

• Submissions: Submit up to 3 poems in the body of an email (times New Roman 12pt, 1.5 spacing). In the Subject Line include genre and title – ‘Poetry – Tattoos’, and a 40 word bio in your email. Send submissions and review enquiries to the poetry editor at info@styluslit.com.

Sweaty City Magazine ‘is a youth journal about climate change and urban ecologies for hot and sweaty Sydney-dwellers. It is Australia’s first magazine dedicated to climate change and urban ecology.’

• Submissions: Check their website for current pitches.

The Blue Nib Literary Magazine ‘The mission of The Blue Nib has always been to encourage and promote the development of creative writing and writers and to promote an appreciation among our readership of outstanding literary work. The magazine in both print but increasingly in digital format is our central focus, and our aim is to publish and promote new content from the strongest established and emerging voices.’

• Submissions: Submissions are considered for either the digital platform or for an upcoming print issue. See their website for details.  

The Lifted Brow is a quarterly e-book and printed magazine. It features fiction, poetry and creative non-fiction from Australia and the world. They don’t mind simultaneous submissions.

• Submissions:  They accept up to 3 previously unpublished poems. It is not that difficult to get your hands on our magazine, and it is a really good magazine (we promise) and also the chances are maybe a bit high that you will submit poetry to us that is not what we are hunting for, because how would you know what we like to publish if you don’t read what we publish?

Tincture Journal – Closed at the end of 2017.

Underground Writers is an independent quarterly e-zine that publishes creative writing by students and emerging writers. They love poetry, flash fiction, reviews and short stories. All poetry submissions are paid $50.

• Submissions: Submit 2 poems only (max of 40 lines) in a word.doc. They prefer Times New Roman and 12pt font with a 1.5 spacing. Please include a short bio and how you found out about them- in the body of the email.

Uneven Floor is an independent e-journal published out of Perth, Western Australia. Its purpose is to showcase poets through a blog.

• Submissions: They are no longer accepting submissions (2018).

Verity La  was started in 2010. It is an online, not-for-profit journal that publishes short fiction, poetry, cultural comment, photomedia, reviews and interviews. They are interested in ‘new voices, different voices, minority voices and progressive voices. We exist beyond the borders of traditional literary journals, we’re interested in danger, the barely legal.’

• Submissions: They are accepting submissions of up to 3 poems during March and Sept 2020. Submissions via email or submittable, depending on the category of work – see their website for details. In 2020, they are able to pay $100 per work published.

Voiceworks is a national quarterly magazine that features writing by Australian young writers (under twenty-five). They only accept work by people living in Australia or Australians living overseas.

• Submissions: They ask that writers send no more than 3 poems (each no more than 100 lines). See their website for guidelines.

Westerly was established in 1956. The print magazine is published biannually while the website publishes work throughout the year. It is a literary magazine that publishes poetry, fiction, essays and book reviews from all over the world, with a particular emphasis on Western Australia, and the Asian region.

• Submissions:  Writers can submit a maximum of 5 poems of up to 50 lines each. See the website for formatting and other guidelines.

Writer’s Edit is an online literary magazine founded in 2013. They publish writing, book-related news as well as advice for emerging writers. They also produce the anthology Kindling.

• Submissions: It was difficult to tell if this magazine is still accepting submissions. My advice is to keep checking their website.

Have I missed something wonderful?

Please let me know if I have and I’ll add it to the list. It would be nice to create a comprehensive list that is accessible to everyone.

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